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| Nepal: Stop Repatriating Tibetan Refugees |
Dear Mike,
For the first time since 2003, the Nepalese government has forcibly repatriated three Tibetan refugees to Tibet, violating international law and jeopardizing the safety of Tibetan escapees. The three Tibetans, all in their early twenties, were forcibly handed over to Chinese border police in early June. Two of them – a woman named Pempa from Shigatse and a monk from Korchak monastery located close to the Nepal border – have since been jailed in Tibet.
TAKE ACTION: Send a letter to Ms. Sujata Koirala, Nepal's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, calling on Nepal to uphold international law.
Nepal's actions could set a devastating precedent for the more than one thousand Tibetans who attempt to flee Tibet each year by crossing the border into Nepal. The Nepalese government does not grant refugee status to Tibetans, but under the informal 'Gentleman's Agreement', established between Nepal and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in 1989, thousands of Tibetan refugees have been provided safe transit through Nepal to India.
In recent years, the Chinese government has exerted heavy pressure on Nepal to stop Tibetans from fleeing across the border and recently announced it will grant the Nepalese government 1.5 million dollars (U.S) a year to 'curb anti-China activities'. Although the situation for Tibetans living in Nepal was already tenuous, the recent repatriations are a drastic escalation in Nepal's maltreatment of Tibetan refugees.
Call the Nepalese consulate or embassy nearest you to express your concern about the repatriation of Tibetans. Find contact information.
International pressure can help deter the Nepalese government from further violating the rights of Tibetan refugees. The UNHCR has expressed grave concern over the incident, and foreign embassies in Kathmandu, Nepal's capital, generally support the "Gentleman's Agreement".
Alert your government representatives in Kathmandu to Nepal's actions. Write to your country's Ambassador to Nepal and urge him/her to raise this incident with the Nepalese authorities. Find contact information.
If you live in a city with a Nepalese consulate or embassy, please consider organizing an emergency protest to help draw international attention to this incident. For materials and support, please contact Tendolkar at tendolkar@
Thank you for taking urgent action to help Tibetan refugees.
With hope,
Tendor, Kate, Tendolkar, Schuyler, Stefanie and Mary-Kate
Learn more:
International Campaign for Tibet's report: http://www.savetibet.org/
UN 'concerned' over Nepal's repatriation of Tibetans (AFP): http://www.google.com/
China tells Nepal to further intensify curbs on Tibetan activities (Phayul.com): http://is.gd/dSRte
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